42 GRAPE CULTURE AND WINE-MAKING. 



350 to 500 francs per five acres. The price of a vineyard, when 

 for sale, varies with its location. The first class Pineau vineyards 

 are worth from 40,000 to 60,000 francs per hectare ;* the second 

 class Pineau vineyards, 30,000 to 40,000 francs per hectare. The 

 first class Gamai vineyards, 30,000 to 40,000 francs per hectare; 

 the second class, 15,000 to 25,000 francs per hectare. The price 

 of the wine is also very variable. For instance, wine raised in 

 1846 from a first class vineyard sold at 2000, 3000, and even 4000 

 francs per barrel, which contains 60 American gallons. In usual 

 vintages, wine of the first class, when through the first fermenta- 

 tion, sells from 1000 to 1500 francs per barrel, sometimes even 

 more ; the second class, from 500 to 1000 francs. The wine made 

 of the Gamai in celebrated years will sell for 800 to 1500 francs ; 

 in common years, 250 to 400 francs. Nearly all wines made here 

 arc red. The few white wines arc not at all celebrated. 



The mode of making the red wine is very much the same in the 

 whole district. The grapes arc picked by men, women, and chil- 

 dren, from September to the 10th of October. They are placed in 

 baskets, and carried to wooden tubs with leather straps on each 

 side. There are several of them scattered in different parts of the 

 vineyard. When these tubs are full, a man passes his arms 

 through the straps, lifts the tub to his back, and carries it to the 

 large trough which is placed in a central part of the vineyard. 

 He empties the grapes into the trough, where the jncn crush them 

 with their feet. The crushed grapes, juice and all, are then car- 

 ried in a donkey-cart to the village, where they are thrown into a 

 large fermentiug-vat. The people do not live in their vineyards, 

 but have their cellars generally in the village. The fcrmenting- 

 vat is about 4|- feet high, and holds from 10 to 20 or even SO bar- 

 rels of wine. When they have remained in this tank from 24 to 

 40 hours, the fermentation will send the stems and seeds to the 

 top of the vessel, forming a hard mass. Then, according to the 

 size of the tank, from four to ten men, stripped of all their clothes, 

 step into the vessel, and begin to tread down the floating mass, 

 working it also with their hands. This operation is repeated sev- 

 eral times, if the wine does not ferment rapidly enough. The rea- 

 son given for this, in my eyes, rather dirty work, is that the bodily 

 heat of the men aids the wine in its fermentation ; but this object 

 might be gained by throwing in heated stones, or using pijDCS filled 

 with steam or hot water. 



* The hectare is two and a half American acres. 



